The Last Night
by LaueHime
Summary: Naruto fulfilled his promise and brought Sasuke back. Only, as he gets better, Naruto gets worse and feels rejected again. As he begins to decompose and to search for a purpose, can the most unexpected person bring him back to life before it is too late?


**A/N :**

**Hello people! I know, it's yet another Naruto story I'm starting. ****The third in what, two weeks? I can't help it, ideas are flowing into me! This one actually came to me in a dream but I didn't know how to put it until I listened to the song "The last night" by Skillet. At this moment it all came clear and here I am writing again. **

**Summary: I trained for this right moment and now I fulfilled my promise to her and brought him back. What can I thrive for now that she's happy all over again? What's my purpose anymore? I can't find any…**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own the characters of this story. They're all property of the brilliant Masashi Kishimoto! Although, if they were mine, Sasuke wouldn't be such a prick! And the song belongs to the band Skillet. I added some lyrics at the end, they're in italics. Listen to it for a better idea.**

**PS. I'll add this now that I'm done writing, the story has minor cussing and mentions of self-mutilation. Gotta read til the end though. It brought a lot of emotions to me during the writing. I think you'll like it!**

**Oh well, on with the story!**

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The blue-haired ninja limped away from the bloody scene, crimson covering his face and his gown. He clutched his side, panting heavily. His air supply was coming in short gasps and his eyelids weighted down. He fell to his knees and gave a grave look behind himself. His brother lay in a pool of blood, still and cold as the night. He was dead. Sasuke sighed in relief. His only purpose in life had just been accomplished and he was now freed of the ghosts from his past. The monster that killed his entire clan had now been brought down by his own hand. He had avenged those he loved and accomplished what he was living for.

A wave of pain sent shivers through his body as he curled onto himself, a bitter taste rushing to his mouth. He started to lose the notion of his whereabouts as dizziness and soon, darkness, engulfed him. He could barely make out the voice that came to him, each time louder than the latter. His eyelids fluttered as he could only distinguish a blurred flash of yellow. He gasped for breath again when he stiffened all of a sudden.

"Sasuke!" someone yelled out to him. His eyes snapped open with the remaining of his strength. He saw a boy his age run toward him.

"SASUKE!" the voice came in louder. The raven-haired was now in full acknowledgment of who was calling his name.

"Naruto" he whispered, his voice coming out raspy and he didn't like the sound of it. The blond ran up to him and stopped at the sight of the gory scene.

"What happened here?" he asked. Sasuke's lips cornered into a slight smile. He peeked at the lifeless body and laughed, the effort causing him to cough up some blood.

"I did it…I killed him!" he said jubilant. Naruto shuddered in horror. He could now see the bloody corpse of what had once been Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke tried to laugh some more but grabbed his ribs when it made the pain rise up to a climax. The blond turned to look at his friends, an incredulous look into his eyes.

"Then you got what you wanted, right?" he asked softly. Sasuke nodded but stopped when the movement made his head spin at a dangerous rate. "So…" Naruto started but he wasn't sure if he should ask. "…Does that mean you're coming home?" he finally dared. Sasuke looked at him with a look Naruto couldn't quite replace. Was it anger or sadness, he couldn't tell.

"You're still the same, you know! You're such an idiot, Naruto!" Sasuke snarled. Naruto glared at him, his hands curling into soon-to-be-destructive fists.

"So what, Sasuke? You defeated your brother! That's what you joined Orochimaru for, right? What is it now? What's keeping you from coming home?" he raged. Sasuke stared at him without a word. Naruto was getting angrier at the lack of words.

"I've never really felt like Konoha was my home" he sighed, his face twitching as the pain was rushing back to him, threatening to get the best of him soon.

"It is your home, teme! Or weren't you happy when you could show off and prove to everyone that you were the best genin since your brother?" Naruto gritted. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and stared at the ground, his head feeling incredibly light from the massive loss of blood. He started to shake his head lightly and took on a complete new voice when he spoke.

"Naruto…" he started. The blond tensed a bit, waiting for the long speech. "For years, my sole purpose in life has been to defeat the man who murdered my clan. I went on relying on the fuelling power of hate and revenge. It destroyed me but ultimately helped me into achieving my duty. Now that it is done, I have nothing left here. So could you just fuck off and leave me the hell alone" he finished, rising his voice at the demand. Naruto's eyes widened in shock and for a second he thought Sasuke was pleading him to let him die. He clenched his fists and raised them up.

"So what now, you're giving up? Who are you? Because you're definitely not the Sasuke I know! What about restoring your clan? You are the only one left now! If you die, your name goes into oblivion forever! Is that what you want?" Naruto shouted in anger. Sasuke started to shake. Naruto soon noticed that tears were falling on the soil. Sasuke was gasping more and more as the salty tears ran down his cheeks and drowned his sorrow-painted face.

"Shut up, ok? Just shut up! I feel bad enough as it is! Don't you think I never felt guilty for leaving the village? For leaving you out there in the rain? How I prayed that you would be okay? That I hadn't killed you that day! If I didn't go back is because of that guilt! I couldn't face the villagers and Kakashi-sensei, and even Sakura. But most of all, I couldn't face you, Naruto. I was ashamed and angry…I thought I'd never be welcomed again…" he cried. Naruto was half happy with the confession, and half boiling at how stupid his friend had been to believe that.

"And you call me dobe? You're the worst imbecile I've ever seen! Why do you think we were after you all this time? We wanted you…no, we needed you back, you fucking moron! Do you know how many times we cried just to see you again! Do you know how many times I prayed to hear your annoying voice calling me baka? Why did you ever think that we wouldn't take you back? Darn it, Sasuke!" he shouted his lungs out. Sasuke was now gripping both his sides as the dam of his nerves broke and let more tears fall from his eyes.

"I'm…sorry…so…sorry!" he bawled. Naruto came towards him and punched him with all his might. "You should be, teme!" he growled. Sasuke was holding his frail body, protecting it from the pain that the truth held. He shivered and choked in his tears. "Please…let me die…leave me here and go…I wanna die" he pleaded. Naruto clenched his fists so hardly that it drew blood into his palms. "There's no way I'm letting you do that ttebayo! I made a promise to bring you back and I'm going to keep it" he uttered. Sasuke stopped shaking as he started to slump. Cold had gripped his bones and fatigue was weighting on his shoulders. He finally shrugged and let darkness engulf him. Naruto shoved his fallen teammate on his back and started running back home.

The gate that greeted outsiders into the hidden leaf village was just a couple of miles away. Naruto gave himself a push and a rush of adrenaline boosted his legs for the last of the road. He sped to the entrance of his home village and stopped at the desk to give his and Sasuke's name to the shinobi guarding the gate. The two chuunin gave each other incredulous looks when they saw the rogue ninja on the blond's back. They still gave him a nod and let him in. Naruto rushed to the hospital and handed Sasuke to the best medic-nin he could find. He then rested in the waiting room, sending one of his summon frogs to find Sakura.

The pink-haired kunoichi rushed into the hospital as soon as she heard the news. She ran to the waiting room, only to find the slumped form of her blond friend.

"Naruto" she choked as she saw how terrible he looked. His head snapped up to the sound of her voice and he looked at her with the relief of knowing he wasn't all alone anymore. He stood from where he sat and she jumped into his arms, letting her tears finally fall.

"I came as soon as I could! How is he?" she asked with obvious fear and pain in her voice. Naruto shrugged. "They should let me know when they're done but he is apparently out of harm's way for the moment" he explained. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and nodded in understanding. More tears fell as she looked down for a long moment.

"Thank you, Naruto" she finally said, her voice hardly above a whisper.

"What for?" he asked.

"For bringing him back to me" she replied. He flinched at the comment, finally realizing that the one Sakura really cared about was Sasuke, and that now that he was back, he would be tossed aside, just like before his friend left. To hide the fact that he was hurt he gave her the shiniest grin he could manage. "I promised you I would, didn't I?" he said in a quieter tone than he would have wanted. The despair was gaining him but he tried to ignore it, thinking that maybe, he was just making this up and after what they'd been through, Sakura wouldn't toss him on a whim. At least, he hoped she wouldn't.

A few hours passed and they were finally allowed into the boy's room. Sasuke was bandaged up but some bruises were still visible. He looked very small compared to what he once was. Sakura cried some more and Naruto fought his own tears back. At the sudden movement around him, Sasuke's eyes fluttered open to meet with emerald green ones.

"Sa…kura" he whispered hoarsely. Overflowed with emotions, Sakura jumped into his arms and hugged him for dear life. Sasuke let out a choking, pained moan at the gesture. She loosened her grip slightly, nervously apologizing to him for hurting him. He gave her a weak, tired smile.

"It's ok, don't worry" he added as he saw the look of guilt cross her face. Sasuke then turned to Naruto with a mysterious look in his eyes. Naruto was waiting for the boy to speak in order to decipher his feelings.

"Naruto…you saved me…" he whispered. The said boy nodded and gave his friend a grin. To his biggest surprise, Sasuke gave it back to him. "Thank you" he whispered, his eyes half-opened.

"I told you I wouldn't let you down" Naruto chimed. Sasuke gave him another smile; a genuine and wide one. Naruto felt the tears burn his eyes but he held them back. The raven-haired boy took a peek at the kunoichi and then back to his blond teammate.

"Naruto, can I have a word with Sakura?" Sasuke required. Naruto nodded. "Sure" he assured. Sasuke thanked him and Naruto went for the door. He left the two together and went out for a walk. The sun was setting down on the valley. He walked passed his favourite restaurant but didn't stop to eat. His feet led him farther away. He finally ended up on a training field with three wooden piles. His heart warmed at the memory of team seven's first training there with Kakashi. He thought about the bells and the way they all had to work together in order to get them. His heart squeezed when he remembered his friends sharing their meals with him.

Not so far away, a silver-haired jounin stood in front of a craved memorial stone. Naruto walked from behind and got closer to the elder. He cleared his throat to make his presence noticed. The man turned around and saw the tuft of blond hair he recognized as his student's.

"Naruto!" he greeted softly.

"Ne, Kakashi sensei" the blond replied as he got closer and finally stopped when he was too standing by the rock. Kakashi noticed his student's looks and could only understand why the kid was being a ball of retained emotions.

"I heard you brought Sasuke back to the village today" Kakashi spoke. It wasn't much like a question because they both knew the answer. Naruto nodded, absent-mindedly.

"How is he doing?" the silver-haired asked.

"He'll be fine" Naruto announced. He saw a flash of relief across his sensei's one displayed eye. They both stayed silent for a while. "And he defeated Itachi" Kakashi stated. Naruto nodded once more. His sensei looked down at his feet.

"Then I guess we'll see a new Sasuke now that his dream of vengeance is accomplished!" Kakashi proposed. Naruto shifted from one foot to the other. "I guess so" he muttered. Kakashi proposed to walk him back to the hospital, to which Naruto agreed. They left together.

As Naruto stepped into the room, he felt like he was butting into something. Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke's bed and they were laughing like kids, holding each other's hand. Naruto shivered at the sight but he replaced it quickly enough by plastering a fake grin into his face and putting both arms up behind his head.

"Hey, what did I miss?" he asked, obviously talking about the joke. Instead of freezing and looking back to him with annoyed looks, both of his teammates looked up with sparkles in their eyes. He hadn't seen the both of them this happy in a very long time, possibly ever.

"Nothing, we were just goofing around" Sasuke replied cheerfully with a grin that went up to his ears. Naruto was shocked by his new attitude but couldn't complain about his friend being happy for once. The blond shook the thought as if nothing happened and motioned for the door.

"Hey, look who I brought back with me!" he announced. The jounin came into view with a smile visible in his eye. "Kakashi sensei" both teens replied. Kakashi waved a hand toward them and held the foot of the bed for support.

"Good to see you again, Sasuke! Tell me you don't want to kill us anymore!" Kakashi greeted. Sasuke's smile faded a bit but he held it still. "It's all over sensei. I don't intend to kill anyone anymore" he reassured with a smile. Kakashi nodded. "Good to hear that from you! We've missed you, you know!" he said. Sasuke went to happy from slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry for everything I put you guys through" he said sincerely. Naruto cut through the air with his hand. "Don't worry now! You're back and team 7 is whole again. It's all that matters" the blond cheered. Sasuke felt better and his grin crept into his face again. He felt accepted. Sakura looked at Sasuke and a question soon came up.

"So Sasuke, what convinced you to come back?" she asked. Sasuke looked over at Naruto and then looked deeply into her eyes.

"I don't know if Naruto ever hit you, but that can be really convincing" he said with a grin. Naruto chuckled lightly, rubbing his knuckles. Sasuke then thought that it would be a good moment to say some things so he cleared his throat.

"I've got something to tell you two" he told the boys. They looked at him incredulously. The boy gripped a small hand tighter and both Sasuke and Sakura smiled wider than before.

"We're together now" Sasuke announced, displaying his and her intertwined fingers. Sakura let out a giggling sound. Naruto stiffened and his blood ran cold into his veins. The two boys waited for more explanation that soon came from the lovebirds.

"For so long, Sakura showed feelings for me and I kept pushing her away because I didn't want to get close to people. I was scared of what I would become if I were to kill my brother. He could have also hurt the people I cared about to hurt me and I couldn't let that happen. But now, if I am to start all over again and live a normal life, I don't want to be afraid of my feelings. I want to have friends and I want to love. Naruto, I want to be the best friend and brother you saw me as…" he explained. The corners of Naruto's mouth twitched into a strained smile before the fake grin came all over his face. Kakashi was happy for the two.

"Well I'm glad you want it to be this way, Sasuke-kun! As long as this doesn't interfere with your ninja duty, of course!" he said. Sasuke promised it wouldn't and the two lovers got compliments and congratulations for their happiness.

Sasuke quickly got better and he was soon up for missions again. He was a totally different person now. He was a caring and loving friend. The change was enough to convince the elders to not give him the punishment fitting for rogue ninjas. But as Sasuke got better, Naruto got worse.

The blond hung around with his friends and the more he did, the more it hurt him. He saw them together, holding hands, giving each other kisses on the neck. The main reason why he got close to Sakura was because they both grieved for the loss of one guy. In times of need, people help each other. But now that Sasuke was back, Sakura was all over him and how great he was since he got back. They spent more and more time dating and Sakura only had Sasuke in mind. Even when she was with Naruto, she kept telling him of how good and handsome Sasuke was. She was on cloud nine and he was slowly being shunned again.

He hadn't done anything wrong. Contrarily, he had done just what she wanted. He kept his promise to her until the very end. He trained and worked hard to be able to beat Sasuke in order to bring him back. Now that the guy was back, what was there left for him? He had no reason to train anymore, no reason to strive and drive himself further. For years, his only purpose had been to save his friend and now that this said friend was back, he didn't have any purpose anymore. The girl he loved found her prince and his best friend found his princess. What was there left for him? What would he do now? What was he supposed to do now?

The pain was great. It was enough to eat away his appetite until he didn't feel like eating anymore. He delayed his training and he was getting lousier during missions. At some point, he would even jump – almost purposely – so quickly onto the attacker that it left him wide open and allowed the assailant to hurt him. He would come back scarred and bruised from his missions. Sasuke and Sakura started to worry about him but whenever they asked their sensei for advices, he would just reply that it was 'just a phase' Naruto was going through and that he would come around eventually. Even wide-open, Naruto was a strong ninja and couldn't be hurt that easily, especially with the power within him. At some point, even the battle-wounds wouldn't tame the pain he felt.

His team wasn't the only one to notice the change. Lee got scared when the blond didn't want to train with him like they used to do. Chouji was taken aback when Naruto refused to have a BBQ with him and Iruka became suspicious when he refused his treat to _Ichiraku_. Shikamaru, who was usually the lazy one, started to ponder when he found out that his friend had even less will then he did. That friend had once been the one annoying the crap out of him to make him work. Beyond all, Hinata was the one who was getting worried the most. In her years of following Naruto – to the point of stalking – she had come to know all of his patterns and habits. She knew he would walk around the city, arms behind his head and chiming tunes through his wide grin. Whenever she would come around him, he would greet her with a radiant smile and take care of her whenever she fainted because of her feelings for him. But now, he wasn't walking and smiling and singing anymore. He wouldn't notice her when he passed by as he would keep his gaze to the ground and his hands in his pockets. He was getting thinner and hollow crevasses of black and purple shadowed underneath his swollen eyes.

Today wasn't any different. She saw him walk by but he didn't notice her. She took her courage and walked up to him. "Hi, Naruto-kun!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, Hinata" he said in a monotone. She stared in anger at the man who was letting himself slip away.

"Naruto, I need to talk to you!" she blurted out in one breath, her heart racing at the energy it took her to say it. He stopped and looked at her, waiting for her to pursue. She motioned for a bench and sat down with him. He moaned for her to go on.

"Naruto, I'm worried about a friend" she said. He shrugged.

"Why? What's going on?" he asked in a low voice.

"I believe something is wrong with him. He might not want to tell me but I can see that he is not eating very much and that he his sleep-deprived" she explained. "I'm scared that, at this rate, he might be endangering himself" she finished. He stared at the ground, balancing his feet awkwardly. When he didn't respond, her anger and fear rose.

"Naruto, please tell me what's going on! I want to help you, I really do!" she pleaded. He didn't look up but cold droplets rolled down his face and fell to the ground. Hinata saw how pained her friend was. She wrapped him in her arms and held him as he cried. Her shoulders were soaked in tears and pain. When his body stopped shaking, she put a finger under his chin and lifted his face up to look into his eyes.

"Tell me…" she pleaded. He nodded and then whipped his tear-stained cheeks.

"I can't find it anymore" he whispered, his voice cracking. She felt the tears in her eyes as well. "What can't you find?" she asked.

"My purpose… my reason for fighting" he said, more tears rolling from his bloodshot eyes. Hinata felt the water break her own dam of emotions.

"What happened, Naruto?" she asked, her voice fully concerned.

"Ever since I brought Sasuke back, he has been so good to everyone that it's all about him again. There is nothing left for me. While he was gone, I had Sakura…it made me happy that she finally acknowledged me…maybe she would love me back…", his voice trailed off and broke. Hinata's heart broke when she understood that his heart belonged to someone else.

"…I kept my promise to her, thinking that maybe she would like me more…but as soon as he came back, it was all him over again and he finally accepted her…!" he bawled. Hinata patted his shoulder and let him cry, her own tears for something else.

"…Now I'm alone again… just like before!...The monster, the freak…It hurts so much Hinata! It hurts and Kuuybi can't even heal me! It hurts here!" he wept, clutching his heart.

Hinata could have drowned in her own tears. How long had her friend felt this way? She had never seen him so hurt, so pained. He hurt so much, it hurt her to see him like that. She just wished she could have done something more but now wasn't the time to confess her feelings.

"I'm here for you, Naruto" she said suddenly. He stopped weeping and looked at her.

"You are" he asked with a sparkle of hope in his voice. She nodded and offered him a warm smile.

"I won't let you down, I promise. I'll be there for you" she announced.

"Thank you" he stuttered.

And she was there for him. She kept an eye out, making sure he was okay. She would sometimes come over to his house and make him dinners that she would force into him. She started to notice eerie scars on his body. She would lecture him for that but he kept saying he wasn't in danger because the Kuuybi would heal it. When he cut or refused to eat, she would threaten him to tell the Hokage. He promised it was the last night he hurt himself as long as she kept it secret. It seemed to work for a while and she let him loose a little but then he started to miss practices and missions. His team would go out and look for him to no avail. He became more distant, colder. Hinata spotted him a day where he almost seemed happy. If she hadn't known better, she would have been fooled.

"Hi, Naruto!" she greeted.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" he exclaimed. "Beautiful day, isn't it!" he added. She nodded and proposed they go out for a while.

"You've been missing practice lately, your team is worried about you!" she stated. He shrugged.

"My alarm clock broke and I've been oversleeping because of that" he lied. She could see right through it. They silently walked to a park. It wasn't a popular place and no one was around. In the park, there was a small lake. Hinata grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled him over.

"Wanna swim?" she asked suddenly. His eyes widened. "Wha…what? No! I don't even have my swimsuit!" he stuttered. She shrugged and pulled her coat off.

"Who cares, there is no one here anyway!" she stated. He shook his head.

"Come on!" she pleaded and pulled up his sleeves to start removing his coat. That's when she saw the scars. Her eyes widened in horror.

"You told me you stopped cutting" she said in a low voice. He pulled his sleeves right back down, angered. He couldn't bring himself to mutter an apology.

"YOU TOLD ME YOU STOPPED, YOU LIED TO ME!" she shouted, slapping him. Tears welled into his eyes.

"It's not of your fucking business anyway! I can do whatever the fuck that I want!" he snapped. She looked back in horror.

"Oh yeah, well, whatever you do, do it alone!" she spat and picked up her coat before running away from him, tears burning in her own eyes. Naruto's tears fell freely. He had managed to push his only friend away. He felt so numb, he could have just died there and he wouldn't have cared.

He started walking towards no where, not acknowledging anything or anyone. He walked passed his favourite restaurant and heard voices. Their voices. Her laugh, his voice, telling her how much he enjoyed his new life with her. Her reply, telling him she had wanted this for so long. He shook their image away and ran to his place. He stomped into his apartment and slammed the door shut, not bothering to lock it behind him. He ran helplessly to the bathroom, crying a river and crawling eagerly towards his salvation. He threw his jacket on the floor and stared at his unscathed arms. The scars had healed by now. He had room to make new ones. He crumbled to the floor and grabbed the weapon that would make the pain go away. Pushing the cold into his flesh, replaced by the warmth of his own life dripping away from the deep wounds. His head felt light, he was dizzy. He couldn't focus.

Some racket. Some screams. Something, someone shaking him. His eyes snapping open in reconnaissance. Lavender eyes, filled with pools of salty water staring at him with fear and concern. His arms being sponged from the thick liquid.

"NARUTO LOOK AT ME!" she screamed. He finally focused on the girl in front of him.

"What did you do?" she cried. He didn't respond and just looked at her in shock. Her whole body was shaking as she was wrapping the wounds to stop the bleeding.

"This is it, I've had enough!" she screamed. He looked at her with a puzzled look. Instead of hitting him or screaming at him, she bent down and kissed him. Hit back in surprise, he didn't move and instead, leaned into her. She finally pulled back.

"This is the last night" she said.

"For what?" he croaked.

"_The last night you'll spend alone. Look me in the eye so I know you know. I'm everywhere you need me to be. I'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go, I'm everything you need me to be_" she said softly. He peeked into her eyes.

"I know you want to die. _The night is so long when everything's wrong but if you give me your hand, I will help you hold on_" she whispered, tears cascading down her face.

"_But I won't let you say goodbye and I'll be your reason why_" she finished. She leaned in and kissed him again. "I love you, Naruto" she whispered into his ear. He hadn't been expecting it but his body willingly leaned into her touch. He felt warm. He felt good for the first time in months.

"_The last night away from me_" she murmured as their kissing grew more and more intense.

* * *

The new happy couple walked into the busy streets of Konoha. They held each other's hand tightly, afraid that if they let go, they'd both slip away. She led him to the training fields where he had failed to meet his friends for many times now. As they got there, two shinobi and their sensei were already in training mode. They stopped when they saw their blond friend coming towards them, holding hands with a lavender-eyed kunoichi from another team. Kakashi looked at his third student with an intense gaze as if wanting to make sure it was really him. He cleared his throat. "You're late" he stated.

Naruto shrugged. "Sorry…got lost on the path of life" he said as a giant grin crept to his face. Kakashi frowned at his own kind of reply. "I hope you've found your way back, then" he said seriously, hoping that his student was doing better.

"Don't worry Kakashi sensei, I'm working on that" Hinata butted in with a smile. Kakashi let his tension fall and smiled.

"How are you doing, Naruto?" he asked sincerely.

"A lot better" the blond replied with a genuine smile, the first in a long time.

"That's good news" Sakura said, then coming into the conversation. Naruto looked at her, waiting to hear what she was going to say next.

"I missed you, Naruto!" she said with a sad smile. He looked down shyly. "It's not because I'm dating Sasuke that you can't be my best knucklehead of a friend" she said with a smile. He smiled back, happier than ever to hear those words.

"I'm not here to take the place you've been fighting so hard to get, Naruto. I just want to make this place my home for the first time in my life. And of course, I want you to be a part of that life as well" Sasuke admitted. Naruto could now feel the tears burn in his eyes.

"We couldn't live without you in our lives, Naruto! You make us all whole!" Kakashi chimed as the tears finally rolled down on the blond's cheeks.

"We're sorry we let you down" Sasuke apologized. Naruto whipped his tears with his sleeve.

With that, Sasuke and Sakura ran towards their friend and wrapped him in a tight hug. Kakashi came by and embraced them too. Naruto laughed with his friends, a real and happy laugh. As the last physical scars finally healed, his most precious people gave his heart the power to start anew and enough love to last for a long, long time.

Hinata pulled him close and whispered softly into his ear, "As for you looking for a purpose, you still have to become the greatest Hokage this town has ever seen".

He smiled and gave her the nice guy pose, thumbs up. "Starting to work on that right away, and that's a promise, dattebayo!"

* * *

**That's it! Freaking cheesy ending, so much it made me tear up as I wrote it. The story got from so dark to so light, wohoo! I hadn't expected that but I think I like how it came out. ****Sasuke came out funny as well! In my dream he was a happy and good guy and since I don't like the stuck-up prick, I thought this change wouldn't be that bad! As for Hinata, it's not really that she got OOC at the end (did it seem like it) because I thought since she was close enough to Naruto by making him dinners and all, that she was close enough to not faint in his presence anymore…I mean poor girl, can she ever talk to him without fainting? LOL. **

**Now I want to know what you thought! Good? Bad? Anything I can improve? Go on and tell me! I think I can live with a little constructive criticism!**

**Thank you for reading and take care!**

**THwriter**


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